大象传媒

I volunteered for the WAAF in 1944 when I was 18. My insurance branch office in Stoke-on-Trent, closed down and I had to register at the Labour Exchange and do some sort of war work. I thought that the WAAF would be a good option, that is until the time came for leaving home when I suddenly realized that my life was going to change forever, or so it seemed. My mother said that the day I left home was Black Friday for her, as she wondered how I would cope in the big wide world. My only times away from home had been holidays spent at the Isle of Man with the Family.

However, I learned how to cope, and tried not to let my homesickness show in my letters. I found other girls felt as I did and it was amazing what wonderful friendships began with shared experiences.The discipline was hard, getting up at 6 a.m., learning how to march, salute, etc, not to mention keeping your bedspace tidy, eating in the cookhouse (strange food, like macaroni pudding) and the worst of all, being confined to camp for one month during training. After three weeks, we were all summoned, by tannoy,to assemble in a big hangar and there seemed to be a strange silence, and then a high ranking WAAF officer told us, in hushed tones, that the Second Front had started, in fact D Day was here. She asked us to think of our troops and to pray for them and I remember a shiver of fear going down my spine. It made a big impression on all of us as we thought of all those taking part and what they must be going through

After completing my month's square bashing in Wiilmslow, I started my training as a wireless operator in Blackpool which was a much better option. I was billeted, along with fourteen other girls in a boarding house, not far from Central. The landlady also took in holiday makers but we were segregated to the poor end of a big room and we were not supposed to mix with the holiday people. The food was awful and we found out that a big saucepan of gravy was mixed at the start of the week to last all week and it was the same with the custard which was more evil tasting every day.However, we had fun, until we found we were doing all the washing up for the holiday guests as well as our own and it was a mamouth job. I remember we had to parade in Rheads Avenue in the mornings, leaving our bedspaces tidy for inspection, before we went on our training - morse code, in Olympia, procedure in the Winter Gardens, and technical training (how wireless worked' how to find frequencies etc, - the bain of my life)at Burtons Corner. We were kept very busy and were warned about Fifth Columists who might try to get secret information off us, it all seemed very important. We managed to go to dances at the Winter Gardens and Tower Ballroom, and were allowed to get in for half price which was good as my pay was only tenshillings a week at the time. We were told by the officers never to frequent pubs and never to disgrace the uniform we were wearing. We had to be back in our billets by 10.30 p.m. weekdays and 11 p.m. Saturday nights. If you were caught on the streets after these times you were put on a charge which went on your records.

I was sorry to leave Blackpool where I had managed to get my first 36 hour leave and I was treated like a big heroine at home, serving my country and all that. I was taken round to various uncles and aunts so that they could see me in uniform. It was embarrassing, I had only done a bit of training at that point - I hadn't seen the enemy or anything!

I came down to earth with a bang when I was posted to Compton Bassett in Wiltshire to complete my course. The discipline was back in full swing and it seemed more like a prison camp, after Blackpool. I remember being up to my ankles in mud as it was November and it never seemed to stop raining. We had to do self help, as well as our studies, which meant sweeping,cleaning and mopping. I was nearly put on a charge for not saluting an officer - she was on a bike, wearing battle dress and it was raining, and she didn't look like an officer. I was severly told off, with a caution. On the plus side I made some very good friends and we had fun on our one day off per week. We managed to visit places like Bath, Marlborough, Devizes and Swindon. I spent Christmas at Compton and it was quite an experience. The officers waited on us in the cookhouse, and we had the best food we had ever had in the forces. We made the best of everything and I tried not to think of home but it was a strange time and I longed for the war to be over. I found the course difficult but it was all over in January and I had to say goodbye to my friends who were posted to other R.A.F. stations, one had had no say in these matters. I remember feeling very sad at the goodbyes. I moved on and made other friends of course.

These are just a few memories of my training days, I have many other memories of what was to follow.

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